Giroux Returns, Voracek Hurt in Flyers Loss

The Flyers lost 2-1 to the Devils Tuesday night in what appeared to be an uneventful game.

In fact, it was the preseason debut of Claude Giroux. Unfortunately, linemate Jakub Voracek left with a lower back injury as well.

Voracek was injured when he went awkwardly into the goalpost in the second period. He did not return to the game at that point and will be evaluated on Wednesday.

"You never want to see that, but I love the move he made," head coach Peter Laviolette said of the play in which Voracek was injured. "I love that power move to the net, to take it from the outside with his speed. It was a great play; a great attempt.

"Certainly, you never want to see anybody hurt, so it's nice that (Paul Holmgren) stated to (the media) that it's not much."

Giroux looked good for making his preseason debut. He won 82% of his faceoffs (9-for-11), and registered two shots while playing a team-high 22 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time.

“Better as the game went on," Giroux said in response to being questioned about how he played. "I think the first period I was just getting back in the game kind of and making plays. As the game went on I felt better.”

Giroux's playoff stats were impressive, especially with the injury he's recovering from. Giroux tore ligaments in his hand in a freak golf accident over a month ago.

"Just getting back to the battles I’ve had maybe one or two practices doing battles but I mean on the ice the whole game is about winning battles; so obviously I got time to work on it here and work on my hands but I’m not worried,” Giroux said.

The Flyers outshot the Devils, 36-11. Kimmo Timonen scored the Flyers lone goal with under two minutes left in the game.